“West Virginia Campus Workers, a non-UCW group, is organizing at West Virginia University. It’s affiliated with AFT Academics.

Leslie Wilber, a member and graduate student who teaches English classes, said WVCW went public as a union in spring 2022 but had been organizing as far back as 2020. At a demonstration last week, WVU graduate workers publicly signed up for food stamps and demanded pay increases and fee eliminations.

“West Virginia in particular has this really powerful labor history, and we’re proud to be a part of it,” she said. “But we also know … because of that history, you only win these rights by fighting for them.”

“We become a union by acting like one,” she said.”

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